Cross dressers in History

Can across and interesting topic. I have read about James Barry a long time ago. So, I've know about the existence of this brilliant doctor for years. But, I didn't there were so many others. The list is mostly talented women who disguised as men to join the profession that was off limit to them in their era. Brandon Teena, I know from the movie 'Boys Don't Cry'. Do you guys know anymore crossdressers in history?

Billy Tipton (born Dorothy Lucille Tipton in 1914) was an American jazz pianist and saxophonist. In 1933, she began her career as a musician in various small Oklahoma bars. As time passed Tipton began to associate with her father’s name Billy and eventually she began to present herself as male by breast-binding and packing. At first Tipton appeared male only in performances, but by 1940 she was living entirely as a male. She ultimately gained great success as a musician and went on to record a series of very popular albums. Tipton had a number of lesbian relationships during which he was able to keep his sex concealed. She eventually had a long term relationship with a woman – concealing his sex the whole time – and they adopted three sons. She was described as “a good father who loved to go on scouting camps”. In 1989, at the age of 74, Tipton died. It was not until then that the coroner revealed to her family and friends that she was, in fact, a woman.

Chevalier d’Eon

Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d’Éon de Beaumont (try saying that three times fast!) was born in 1728 in France. D’Eon was born a female but lived the first half of her life as a man. D’Eon’s autobiography states that she was raised as a boy because her father could only inherit money from his in-laws if he had a son. As was usual for the day, because her family were nobles without a title, they styled themselves as “Chevalier” – meaning “Knight”. In 1756, d’Eon joined the spy service of King Louis XV and traveled on a secret mission to Russia to meet the Empress Elizabeth. In 1761, d’Éon returned to France. The next year she became a captain of dragoons under the Marshal de Broglie and fought in the later stages of the Seven Years’ War. She was wounded and received the Order of Saint-Louis. She was eventually granted a pension and lived in political exile in London. As part of her negotiation with the crown of King Louis XVI, she was told she could return to France but would have to live as a woman – an offer she accepted because the King offered to pay for her new clothes. She lived out the rest of her life as a woman.

James Barry

James Barry (born 1792-1795) was a military surgeon in the British Army, and by the end of his career was Inspector General in charge of military hospitals. He served in South Africa and India. Among his accomplishments was the first successful cesarean section in Africa by a British surgeon, in which both the mother and child survived the operation. James Barry was born Margaret Ann Bulkley and is, therefore, the first female Briton to become a qualified medical doctor. It is believed that Bulkley took on the role of a man in order to achieve her dreams of working in medicine – a dream that could not be fulfilled if she remained a woman. Letters reveal that there may have been a conspiracy by Barry’s mother and uncles to get him in to medical school. He died from dysentery July 25, 1865 and apparently the charwoman who took care of the body, Sophia Bishop, was the first to discover his female body, and revealed the truth after the funeral. Afterwards many people claimed to “have known it all along”. The British Army sealed his records for 100 years. James is pictured above on the left.

Malinda Blalock

Malinda Blalock was a female soldier during the American Civil War who fought bravely on both sides. When the war started, rather than be separated from her husband Keith, she decided to disguise herself as a man and join the army too. She was officially registered on March 20, 1862, as “Samuel ‘Sammy’ Blalock” – claiming to be the older brother of her husband. Her registration papers are one of the few surviving records of female soldiers in the Civil War. Malinda was a good soldier and her identity was never revealed. One of the army surgeons said of her: “She drilled and did the duties of a soldier as any other member of the Company, and was very adept at learning the manual and drill.” Eventually the couple deserted from the army.

Denis Smith

Denis Smith (Born Dorothy Lawrence) was an English reporter who disguised herself as a man to go undercover during World War I. Dorothy, 19, was living in Paris and wanted to be a war reporter – something that was impossible due to her sex, and the difficulty that even males were having at the time getting to the front lines as journalists. She persuaded two young English soldiers to give her a uniform; she had her hair cut short in a military style, and colored her skin with diluted furniture polish to give it a bronzed look. With forged identity papers as Private Denis Smith of the 1st Bn, Leicestershire Regiment, she cycled to the Somme – and the front lines. A friend found her work as a Sapper with the British Expeditionary Force – laying mines under constant fire. He also found her an abandoned cottage to sleep in at night. After 10 days, she became worried that if her sex were discovered, the men who had helped her would be in danger. She presented herself to the company chiefs and was placed under arrest. She was interrogated as a spy and declared a prisoner of war. The military were concerned that if her story got out, other women would try to enter the army in disguise. Dorothy was compelled to sign an affidavit that she would not tell her story. When she returned to London she was unable to work due to the affidavit. When the war ended she wrote her story but the war office censored it and it would not come out until many years later. In 1925, Dorothy was institutionalized as insane and she died at Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum in 1964.

Marinus

Marinus was born Marina in the 6th century. Her father wanted to join a monastery (Monastery of Qannoubine, in the Holy Valley, Lebanon) so he took his daughter – disguised as a boy – with him. Both were admitted and became monks. After living in the monastery for a number of years, it became necessary for both father and daughter to travel. Whilst staying at an inn, the innkeeper’s wayward daughter was attracted to Brother Marinus and tried to seduce her. When Marinus refused the advances, the innkeeper’s daughter claimed that “he” had seduced her and she was pregnant. Marinus refused to debunk the claims by showing that she was, in fact, female, and she was kicked out of the monastery. She lived outside the monastery walls begging. To make matters worse, Marinus was forced to take custody of the child and raise him. She remained there, raising the child, performing harsh penances, and undertaking menial jobs. It was not until her death that her sex was finally revealed. Marinus is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic, and Orthodox Churches. She is known as Saint Marina the Monk. St Marina is pictured above in red.

Albert Cashier

Albert Cashier was born Jennie Irene Hodgers in 1843. In 1862, Hodgers disguised herself as a man and enlisted in the 95th Illinois Infantry Regiment under the name Albert Cashier. The regiment was under Ulysses S. Grant and fought in over 40 battles. Cashier managed to remain undetected as the other soldiers thought she was just small and preferred to be alone. Cashier was captured in battle but managed to escape back to Union lines after overpowering a guard. She fought with the regiment through the war until 1865. After the war, Cashier continued to live as a male, convincing everyone around her. For forty years Cashier worked as a church janitor, cemetery worker and street lamplighter, she voted as a man, and claimed a veterans pension. In 1910, she was hit by a car and broke her leg. A doctor discovered her secret but agreed to keep quiet. in 1911, Cashier moved to a soldier’s retirement home. After her mind began to deteriorate, attendants gave her a bath and discovered her true sex. She was forced to wear a dress from that time on. Cashier died in 1915 and was buried in her military garb. Her tombstone carried the words: “Albert D. J. Cashier, Co. G, 95 Ill. Inf.” – when she was finally traced back to Jennie Hodgers, a second tombstone was erected with both names on it.

Petter Hagberg

Petter Hagberg (Brita Nilsdotter) was born in 1756 in Finnerödja, Sweden. In 1785 she married Anders Peter Hagberg who was a soldier of the guard. Shortly after the marriage he was called away to participate in the Russo-Swedish war (1788 – 1790). At a loss without her husband, Brita dressed herself as a man and enlisted in the army to find him. She participated in the Battle of Svensksund (pictured above) and the Battle of Vyborg Bay as a marine. During her time there her commanding officer called out the name “Hagberg” and both she and her husband stepped forward – she found him at last. The two kept her sex a secret. Later, at the battle of Björkö Sund, Brita was wounded and ordered below deck to have her wounds taken care of. She went unwillingly and her sex was revealed. After the war she was given a pension (unheard of at the time) and was granted a license to trade (also unheard of for a married woman). She was awarded a medal of bravery and given a military funeral.

James Gray

ames Gray was born Hannah Snell in 1723 in Worcester, England. As a child she played soldiers, but was otherwise seen as a normal young girl. In 1744 she married James Summs, and two years later gave birth to a daughter. Within a year her daughter had died and her husband had deserted her. She borrowed a man’s suit from her brother-in-law James Gray whose name she assumed. She began to travel, trying to find her husband who she later discovered had been executed for murder. She traveled to Portsmouth and joined the Royal Marines. She was sent in to battle twice, during which time she was wounded 11 times in the legs and once in the groin. It is not known how she concealed her sex when her groin wound was treated. In 1750 her unit returned to England and she revealed her true sex to her shipmates. She told her story to the papers and petitioned for a military pension which was, surprisingly, granted. Her military service was officially recognized and she eventually opened a pub called the “The Female Warrior”. She eventually remarried and had two children. Hannah died in 1792.

Brandon Teena

Teena Brandon was born in 1972 in Lincoln, Nebraska. As a child she was regarded as a tomboy and everyone called her Brandon. After being sexually abused by a male relative, she moved to Richardson County, Nebraska and began to live entirely as a male. She became friends with two ex convicts John Lotter and Marvin “Tom” Nissen. She also began dating a woman (Lana Tisdel). None of her friends knew she was female. On December 15th, Brandon was jailed for forging checks and his girlfriend, Lana, bailed him out. Because Brandon was in the women’s section of the prison, Lana discovered her true sex. According to Lana she stopped “dating” Brandon at this time. When Brandon’s arrest was published in the paper under her proper name, Lotter and Nissen discovered the truth. They raped Brandon and beat her. Brandon went to the police but a large number of administrative errors resulted in her case not being investigated. Eventually Lotter and Nissen would go on to shoot Brandon and two others who were hiding her. Lotter was sentenced to death and Nissen to life imprisonment. The story of Brandon Teena became the subject of the Academy award winning film, Boys Don’t Cry. Brandon is pictured above on the right.

Poor Brandon Teena. She's the only one on the list who has a very bad end. Marius life was harsh, but, at least, she was canonised as Saint at the end. She at least got a final respect.

One other trivia. James Barry lives in the same time period as Florence Nightingale and they didn't like each other. I have a dislike of Florence Nightingale for years after reading the book about Jame Barry because apparently, Florence has a hand in blocking James's promotion. Florence also took a lot of credit for the reform she did on healthcare when it was James to started advocating it first. Beside blocking James' promotion, I also dislike her for getting all the credits for the reform. But, to be fair, although James advocated it first, Florence has more success in making people implement it and make the whole reform a success. So, feelings aside, Florence deserved the credit. Also, to be fair to Florence, she has reasons to not like James, because James did not like her already on the first meet and was not very nice to her. The book suggest that maybe James was jealous of her because she was able to achieve more success in the issue he started advocating first (about hygiene in the army). Although James was a brilliant doctor, she was not a person who was easy to get along with. Maybe she was also jealous because Florence can works as a woman?

Barry was not always a pleasant fellow to be around. He could be tactless, impatient, argumentative and opinionated. He reputedly fought a couple of duels when someone commented on his voice, features, or professionalism. He was punished many times for insubordination and discourteous behaviour but often received lenient sentences. During the Crimean War (1854–1856), he got into an argument with Florence Nightingale.

Deborah Sampson was born in 1760. When she was a child, her father died at sea and her mother sent all of her family away. Her mother could not take care of her children because they did not have enough money. After Deborah was sent away, she worked as a servant on a farm. She learned to sew, spin, hunt, ride a horse and she could even do carpentry work. She loved to learn, and she begged the men in the family to teach her new things. Deborah learned so much from them that she later became a teacher.
She wanted to help the men in the American Revolution, she could not, because back then women were not allowed to fight in the war. Deborah knew that in order to help in the war, she would have to pretend to be a man. She practiced acting like a man and finally she was ready to fight with the soldiers. She enlisted in the army and thought up a new name for herself: Robert Shurtleff.
She was five feet and seven inches tall, which was tall for a woman, but her fellow soldiers simply thought that she was a short boy. They teased Deborah because "Robert" did not have to shave.
She was a brave soldier and volunteered for dangerous missions. The other soldiers were proud of "Robert." Deborah became an aide to the general. "Robert" served the general his meals.
Everything was going smoothly until she got wounded in the head and leg. She let the doctor treat her head injury, but not her leg. If the doctor had treated her leg, she would have been found out! She took out the bullet in her leg by herself. Her leg never healed all the way, but her secret was safe. Deborah was afraid that if the other soldiers found out that "Robert" was a girl that they would shoot her.
Later, Deborah became sick with a fever and was put in the hospital. The doctor found out her secret--that "Robert"was a woman. The doctor took her to his home to recover from her illness. The army gave her an honorable discharge after they learned her secret.
After leaving the army, she married a farmer named Benjamin Gannett. They had three children. Deborah taught at a school and gave lectures and speeches on what happened during the war. At the end of some of her speeches, she would dress up in her uniform and her gun to show them what she looked like as a soldier.
After receiving a letter from Paul Revere, Congress agreed to grant Deborah Sampson a pension. Massachusettes General Court recognized her as a hero on January 20, 1792. She received four dollars a month until her death at age sixty-six.